This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/father-daughter-border-drowning-picture-mexico.html
The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| A Photo Captures the Pathos of Migrants Who Risked It All | A Photo Captures the Pathos of Migrants Who Risked It All |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — The father and daughter lie face down in the muddy water along the banks of the Rio Grande, her tiny head tucked inside his T-shirt, an arm draped over his neck. | |
| The portrait of desperation was captured on Monday by the journalist Julia Le Duc, in the hours after Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez drowned with his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, as they tried to cross from Mexico to the United States. | The portrait of desperation was captured on Monday by the journalist Julia Le Duc, in the hours after Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez drowned with his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, as they tried to cross from Mexico to the United States. |
| The image represents a poignant distillation of the perilous journey hundreds of thousands of migrants face on their passage north to the United States, and the tragic consequences that often go unseen in the loud and caustic debate over border policy. | The image represents a poignant distillation of the perilous journey hundreds of thousands of migrants face on their passage north to the United States, and the tragic consequences that often go unseen in the loud and caustic debate over border policy. |
| It recalled other poignant and sometimes disturbing photos that have galvanized public attention in the past to the horrors of war and the acute suffering of individual refugees and migrants — personal stories that are often obscured by larger events. | It recalled other poignant and sometimes disturbing photos that have galvanized public attention in the past to the horrors of war and the acute suffering of individual refugees and migrants — personal stories that are often obscured by larger events. |
| Like the 1993 photo of a starving toddler and a nearby vulture in Sudan or the shot in 1972 of a 9-year-old in South Vietnam running naked, screaming from burning napalm, the image of a single father and his young child washed up on the river shore had the potential to prick the public conscience. | Like the 1993 photo of a starving toddler and a nearby vulture in Sudan or the shot in 1972 of a 9-year-old in South Vietnam running naked, screaming from burning napalm, the image of a single father and his young child washed up on the river shore had the potential to prick the public conscience. |
| As the photo ricocheted around social media on Tuesday, Democrats in the House were moving toward a late-night vote on an emergency $4.5 billion humanitarian aid bill to address the plight of migrants at the border. | As the photo ricocheted around social media on Tuesday, Democrats in the House were moving toward a late-night vote on an emergency $4.5 billion humanitarian aid bill to address the plight of migrants at the border. |
| Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas and the chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, grew visibly emotional as he discussed the photograph in Washington. He said he hoped that it would make a difference among lawmakers and the broader American public. | Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas and the chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, grew visibly emotional as he discussed the photograph in Washington. He said he hoped that it would make a difference among lawmakers and the broader American public. |
| “It’s very hard to see that photograph,” Mr. Castro said. “It’s our version of the Syrian photograph — of the three-year-old boy on the beach, dead. That’s what it is.’’ | “It’s very hard to see that photograph,” Mr. Castro said. “It’s our version of the Syrian photograph — of the three-year-old boy on the beach, dead. That’s what it is.’’ |
| The young family from El Salvador — Mr. Martinez, 25, Valeria and her mother, Tania Vanessa Avalos — arrived last weekend in the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, hoping to apply for asylum in the United States. | The young family from El Salvador — Mr. Martinez, 25, Valeria and her mother, Tania Vanessa Avalos — arrived last weekend in the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, hoping to apply for asylum in the United States. |
| But the international bridge was closed until Monday, officials told them, and as they walked along the banks of the river, the water appeared manageable. | But the international bridge was closed until Monday, officials told them, and as they walked along the banks of the river, the water appeared manageable. |
| Mr. Martinez swam first with Valeria and deposited the girl on the banks of the American side before turning back to help his wife, according to testimony Ms. Le Duc overheard at the scene on Sunday. | Mr. Martinez swam first with Valeria and deposited the girl on the banks of the American side before turning back to help his wife, according to testimony Ms. Le Duc overheard at the scene on Sunday. |
| But the girl grew frightened and dove back into the water after him. He returned for the little girl, tucking her inside his T-shirt as the current swept them away. | But the girl grew frightened and dove back into the water after him. He returned for the little girl, tucking her inside his T-shirt as the current swept them away. |
| On Monday, their bodies were recovered by Mexican authorities a few hundred yards from where they were swept downstream, fixed in the same haunting embrace. | On Monday, their bodies were recovered by Mexican authorities a few hundred yards from where they were swept downstream, fixed in the same haunting embrace. |
| When asked about the photograph, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico said on Tuesday that it was “very regrettable that this would happen,” The Associated Press reported. | When asked about the photograph, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico said on Tuesday that it was “very regrettable that this would happen,” The Associated Press reported. |
| “We have always denounced that as there is more rejection in the United States, there are people who lose their lives in the desert or crossing” the river, he said. | “We have always denounced that as there is more rejection in the United States, there are people who lose their lives in the desert or crossing” the river, he said. |
| Recent weeks have brought home the dangers along the border, though none quite as graphically as the death of Mr. Ramirez and Valeria. | Recent weeks have brought home the dangers along the border, though none quite as graphically as the death of Mr. Ramirez and Valeria. |
| On Sunday, two babies, a child and woman were found dead in the Rio Grande Valley, overcome by the searing heat. A toddler from India was found dead in Arizona earlier this month. | On Sunday, two babies, a child and woman were found dead in the Rio Grande Valley, overcome by the searing heat. A toddler from India was found dead in Arizona earlier this month. |
| And three children and an adult from Honduras perished when their raft overturned two months ago while crossing the Rio Grande. | And three children and an adult from Honduras perished when their raft overturned two months ago while crossing the Rio Grande. |
| Deterrence has been a favored strategy among American officials seeking to stem the tide of migration, even before President Trump took office. | Deterrence has been a favored strategy among American officials seeking to stem the tide of migration, even before President Trump took office. |
| In 2014, President Barack Obama pressed Mexico to do more after tens of thousands of unaccompanied children turned up along the southern border searching for loved ones in the United States. | In 2014, President Barack Obama pressed Mexico to do more after tens of thousands of unaccompanied children turned up along the southern border searching for loved ones in the United States. |
| Detentions in Mexico soared under the so-called Plan Southern Border. | Detentions in Mexico soared under the so-called Plan Southern Border. |
| But Mr. Trump, from the outset of his election campaign, has made a crackdown on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his presidency. | But Mr. Trump, from the outset of his election campaign, has made a crackdown on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his presidency. |
| His administration has sought to criminalize those entering the United States illegally, separate parents from their children and drastically slow down the ability of migrants to apply for asylum in the United States. | His administration has sought to criminalize those entering the United States illegally, separate parents from their children and drastically slow down the ability of migrants to apply for asylum in the United States. |
| More recently, his administration has imposed a plan to send thousands of asylum seekers back to Mexico to await their court proceedings. | More recently, his administration has imposed a plan to send thousands of asylum seekers back to Mexico to await their court proceedings. |
| Under sustained pressure from Mr. Trump, Mexico has been stepping up its own migration enforcement in recent months. | Under sustained pressure from Mr. Trump, Mexico has been stepping up its own migration enforcement in recent months. |
| This effort accelerated in the past two weeks as part of a deal that the López Obrador administration struck with Washington to thwart potentially crippling tariffs. | This effort accelerated in the past two weeks as part of a deal that the López Obrador administration struck with Washington to thwart potentially crippling tariffs. |
| As of Monday, the Mexican government had deployed more than 20,000 security forces to the southern and northern borders to try to impede the passage of undocumented migrants toward the United States, officials said. | As of Monday, the Mexican government had deployed more than 20,000 security forces to the southern and northern borders to try to impede the passage of undocumented migrants toward the United States, officials said. |
| But human rights experts, immigrants’ advocates and security analysts warned that the mobilization could drive migrants to resort to more dangerous routes in their effort to reach the United States. | But human rights experts, immigrants’ advocates and security analysts warned that the mobilization could drive migrants to resort to more dangerous routes in their effort to reach the United States. |
| For all the hard-line policies, hundreds of thousands of migrants continue to embark on the dangerous journey to the United States from Central America and elsewhere. | For all the hard-line policies, hundreds of thousands of migrants continue to embark on the dangerous journey to the United States from Central America and elsewhere. |
| But for every migrant who chooses to take the journey, whether on foot, packed into shipping containers or on the top of trains, the fear of what lies behind outweighs that which lies ahead. | But for every migrant who chooses to take the journey, whether on foot, packed into shipping containers or on the top of trains, the fear of what lies behind outweighs that which lies ahead. |
| Some are fleeing gangs that cripple the region and kill wantonly. Others are seeking an economic lifeline. | Some are fleeing gangs that cripple the region and kill wantonly. Others are seeking an economic lifeline. |
| Such was the case with Mr. Martinez and his wife, who left El Salvador in early April intent on starting fresh in the United States, according to Jorge Beltran, a reporter for El Diario de Hoy in El Salvador who interviewed some of the couple’s relatives. | Such was the case with Mr. Martinez and his wife, who left El Salvador in early April intent on starting fresh in the United States, according to Jorge Beltran, a reporter for El Diario de Hoy in El Salvador who interviewed some of the couple’s relatives. |
| “They went for the American dream,” Wendy Joanna Martínez de Romero, said from her home in El Salvador. | “They went for the American dream,” Wendy Joanna Martínez de Romero, said from her home in El Salvador. |
| Mr. Martinez quit his job at Papa Johns, where he had earned about $350 a month. By then, his wife had already left her job as a cashier at a Chinese restaurant to take care of their daughter. | Mr. Martinez quit his job at Papa Johns, where he had earned about $350 a month. By then, his wife had already left her job as a cashier at a Chinese restaurant to take care of their daughter. |
| The couple lived with Mr. Ramirez’s mother in the community of Altavista, a massive housing complex of tiny concrete houses east of San Salvador, according to Mr. Beltran. | The couple lived with Mr. Ramirez’s mother in the community of Altavista, a massive housing complex of tiny concrete houses east of San Salvador, according to Mr. Beltran. |
| Though Altavista is under the control of gangs, the couple was not fleeing from violence, Ms. Ramirez told him. Rather, the grind of surviving as a family on a $10 a day had become unmanageable. | Though Altavista is under the control of gangs, the couple was not fleeing from violence, Ms. Ramirez told him. Rather, the grind of surviving as a family on a $10 a day had become unmanageable. |
| Indeed, members of the family issued a plea to the public on Tuesday, seeking money to help repatriate the bodies of Mr. Martinez and Valeria. The cost was expected to be about $8,000 — an unimaginable sum for the relatives to manage. | Indeed, members of the family issued a plea to the public on Tuesday, seeking money to help repatriate the bodies of Mr. Martinez and Valeria. The cost was expected to be about $8,000 — an unimaginable sum for the relatives to manage. |
| Hours later, the government agreed to cover the costs. | Hours later, the government agreed to cover the costs. |